S.F. offers indie filmmakers low-rent office space

MID-MARKET DEVELOPMENT

Jessica Kwong, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, April 3, 2011

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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Filming coordinator Christine Munday in a conference room of the 10,000 square foot space at 134A Golden Gate which has about 10 offices and communal space, intended to give independent filmmakers an affordable workplace in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, March 22, 2011. The Film Commission voted unanimously Monday on a proposal to lease a 10,000 square foot space at 134A Golden Gate. less

Filming coordinator Christine Munday in a conference room of the 10,000 square foot space at 134A Golden Gate which has about 10 offices and communal space, intended to give independent filmmakers an affordable ... more

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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Filmmaker Mart“n Rossetti of Vivo Media in his 15.5 ft. x 4.5 foot work area at home in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, March 22, 2011.

Filmmaker Mart“n Rossetti of Vivo Media in his 15.5 ft. x 4.5 foot work area at home in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, March 22, 2011.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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Clockwise-- location manager Gail Stempler, producer Mark G. Mathis, product designer Max Briscoe, art director Dean Backer on the production of "Big Sur" as they rent a space at 134A Golden Gate which has about 10 offices and communal space, intended to give independent filmmakers an affordable workplace in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, March 22, 2011. The Film Commission voted unanimously Monday on a proposal to lease a 10,000 square foot space at 134A Golden Gate. less

Clockwise-- location manager Gail Stempler, producer Mark G. Mathis, product designer Max Briscoe, art director Dean Backer on the production of "Big Sur" as they rent a space at 134A Golden Gate which has ... more

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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Filming coordinator Christine Munday with her dog Clarence in the outside garden at 134A Golden Gate which has about 10 offices and communal space, intended to give independent filmmakers an affordable workplace in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, March 22, 2011. The Film Commission voted unanimously Monday on a proposal to lease a 10,000 square foot space at 134A Golden Gate. less

Filming coordinator Christine Munday with her dog Clarence in the outside garden at 134A Golden Gate which has about 10 offices and communal space, intended to give independent filmmakers an affordable ... more

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

S.F. offers indie filmmakers low-rent office space

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Like many independent filmmakers in San Francisco, Martín Rossetti has top-of-the-line shooting and editing equipment and plenty of bright ideas. But he and his partners have been struggling to make one part of their production company more professional.

"It's a little awkward for clients to come in and see my living room and bedroom," said the 26-year-old, who has spent months looking for office space. "The biggest challenge has been finding something that we can afford and fits us."

Their search may be over.

The San Francisco Film Commission is becoming the landlord of a 10,000-square-foot space in Mid-Market that will host an "incubator" program. Complete with 10 basement-level offices and communal areas, 134A Golden Gate Ave., the commission hopes, will provide the affordable office space many local independent filmmakers have struggled to find.

At $1 to $1.50 per square foot, the sublease is financially feasible, Rossetti said.

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"It's at least half of the rents that we were looking at in SoMa, Potrero and the Dogpatch," he said. "If this hadn't gone through, we thought of finding a place outside the city."

Another hope is this new space will help the city regain its reputation as a hub for independent film, said Susannah Greason Robbins, the commission's executive director.

"We want to show independent filmmakers that we are focused on them, as much as we are on the big studio productions," she said.

A rebate program the Board of Supervisors approved in 2009 benefits independent productions in particular, Robbins added, because the maximum amount of city fees and local payroll taxes they could get back - $600,000 - means a substantial break for smaller productions.

While independent filmmakers can expect a good deal for a yearlong lease, so can the commission. For the first trial year, the building's landlord, Craig Larsen, has agreed to rent the basement to the commission for $5,000 per month, but will accept less than that amount if the commission is unable to find tenants for all the offices.

Still, several Film Commission members expressed concerns that being a landlord, even in a building the commission doesn't own, might detract from their main goals. They also questioned security in the Tenderloin building, which houses mental health services on the floors above.

With high vacancy rates across the city, the commission's search could have been more expansive, said Tom King, who recently started making documentary shorts.

"I fully support the idea, but I think the address is wrong," the 48-year-old San Franciscan said. "It's not a safe neighborhood."

"It puts a stake in the ground for film-related activities," she said. "And it's an opportunity to build on the historic film theaters that are already there."

The commission began eyeing the spot in January as a potential place to relocate the FilmHouse Residencies, a program that gives filmmakers six months of free office space.

When the FilmHouse program's co-facilitator, the San Francisco Film Society, decided to pursue a location in the upper Fillmore, the commission jumped at the opportunity to start its first self-run subleasing program. Independent filmmakers could move in as early as the beginning of May, Robbins said.

That's exactly what one current FilmHouse occupant, 29-year-old Carter Gunn, plans to do if he's one of the tenants selected.

"Having a community of filmmakers is always helpful because everyone can lend a hand or eye," he said. "And especially when you live in an apartment, you don't have space to run a production and not have an assistant in your bedroom or an intern in your kitchen."

Coming Monday

How Mid-Market is shaping up as San Francisco's next burgeoning arts district.

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